(TÜRKIYE) — Turkish authorities launched an investigation into seven visa intermediary firms accused of using automated software to seize Schengen visa appointment slots and resell them at inflated prices, opening a high-level probe into a black market that has blocked ordinary applicants from official booking channels.

Turkish Trade Minister Ömer Bolat confirmed the investigation in a written response to parliamentary inquiries. The Advertising Board under the Ministry of Trade is reviewing the firms under Articles 61 and 62 of Law No. 6502, the consumer protection law covering deceptive advertising and unfair commercial practices.

Authorities are examining claims that the companies used bots to capture appointment slots the moment they opened. Those slots were then resold for €300 to €1,000, far above the standard €90 fee, turning basic access to a visa interview into a paid secondary market.

The probe follows 153 formal complaints filed over five years. Bolat said 143 came through CİMER, the Presidential Communication Center, and 10 through the e-Government portal.

Those complaints describe a pattern familiar to Turkish applicants trying to secure a Schengen visa. Appointment calendars appear full almost instantly, while brokers and unofficial middlemen offer “VIP” or “fast-track” access for fees that can exceed a month’s salary.

The market pressure has sharpened as demand for European travel has stayed high. Türkiye ranked as the second-largest source of Schengen visa applications worldwide with 1.27 million applications in 2025, making any disruption in appointment systems visible quickly and at scale.

Industry groups say the shortage is no longer explained by demand alone. The Association of Turkish Travel Agencies, or TÜRSAB, said Turkish citizens were being “effectively shut out” of the system, with a 32.3% decrease in successful applications for Italy and a 6% decrease for France.

That drop has fed wider complaints of a visa deadlock between Türkiye and European destinations. Turkish officials are now trying to attack one part of that bottleneck through consumer protection rules rather than immigration law, framing bot-driven appointment fraud as an unfair commercial practice aimed at consumers.

VFS Global, the official visa partner handling appointments in many cases, has already added technical barriers meant to slow abuse. Those measures include OTP (One-Time Password) verification and IP restrictions, steps aimed at stopping automated scripts from sweeping up newly released slots.

The Turkish action focuses on Schengen procedures, but officials in the United States have issued similar warnings about manipulation of visa appointment systems. On May 22, 2026, USCIS Spokesman Zach Kahler said, “We’re returning to the original intent of the law to ensure aliens navigate our nation’s immigration system properly. . This policy allows our immigration system to function as the law intended instead of incentivizing loopholes.”

That statement came after a policy shift on Adjustment of Status and reflected a broader push on system integrity. On March 30, 2026, USCIS said in an update titled “Update on USCIS’ Strengthened Screening and Vetting” that it had implemented “robust actions” to protect the integrity of the immigration system, including “increased social media and financial vetting” to detect fraudulent actors and agents.

The State Department had already warned publicly about appointment manipulation. In a statement issued on Sept. 29, 2025, the U.S. Embassy in Santo Domingo said, “The embassy is aware of individuals who are attempting to manipulate the visa appointment system through bots and other unauthorized methods. . any applicant who seeks to manipulate the appointment system will face consequences [including] appointment cancellation, visa refusal, and visa cancellation.”

That warning did not concern Türkiye specifically, but it showed how appointment fraud has become a cross-border problem for consular systems that depend on timed online releases. Bots can move faster than human users, and once they corner scarce slots, scarcity itself becomes a product that brokers can sell back to applicants.

In Türkiye, the effect has been felt well beyond travel agencies and visa service firms. Families planning holidays, business travelers with fixed meeting dates, students trying to meet enrollment deadlines and companies sending staff abroad all face the same problem: access to an appointment can cost far more than the official consular fee, or disappear altogether unless purchased through unofficial channels.

Bolat’s response puts the Ministry of Trade at the center of the domestic enforcement effort. By using the Advertising Board and consumer law provisions, the government is treating the alleged conduct not simply as a technical abuse of booking systems but as a commercial scheme that distorted prices and access for the public.

The accusations against the seven firms center on monopoly-like control over appointments rather than visa decisions themselves. Intermediaries do not issue Schengen visas, but control over appointment access can determine who reaches the front door of the process, especially when slots are scarce and demand is high.

That distinction matters in Türkiye’s current market. A person denied access to the calendar may never reach the stage where official criteria are assessed, even if the applicant is prepared to pay the normal fee and submit complete documents through the proper channel.

The complaint figures suggest frustration has built for years before the investigation became public. CİMER and the e-Government portal together recorded a steady stream of allegations, and the ministry’s decision to move against seven companies indicates the government now sees the issue as organized and commercial, not isolated.

The probe also places fresh attention on the firms that occupy the space between applicants and consulates. Those businesses often market speed, convenience or appointment assistance, but Turkish authorities are examining whether some crossed into deceptive advertising and unfair competition by using automated systems to corner supply and sell it back at a premium.

Official channels remain the reference point for applicants trying to avoid those extra costs. USCIS posts alerts through its Newsroom, while the U.S. Embassy in Türkiye Fraud Prevention Unit and the U.S. Department of State visa fraud page publish warnings about manipulation and scams. Türkiye’s Foreign Ministry also posts press releases on official policy developments.

Whether the Turkish probe breaks the appointment black market will depend on what the Advertising Board finds and how enforcement follows. For now, the investigation has turned a long-running complaint into a formal case, with Turkish authorities alleging that bot-driven appointment fraud did not simply exploit the Schengen visa system but sold access to it back to the people locked out of it.